Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Myanmar: Peace Negotiations

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions, if any, theyhave had with international partners about new diplomatic engagement or concerted international efforts to end the conflict in Myanmar.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK is committed to ending the crisis in Myanmar, and continues to lead a strong, international response. The UK has worked closely with the US, Canada and the EU to target sanctions on the military leadership, its access to revenue, arms and military equipment. In December 2022, the UK led the first ever UN Security Council resolution on Myanmar, which demands an end to violence and urges immediate implementation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Five Point Consensus. We continue to raise the crisis regularly with a wide range of international partners bilaterally and in multilateral fora.

Home Office

Fraud: Internet

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that UK citizens are protected from online fraud and the rise in social media and text messaging scams.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The Government is committed to doing everything we can to stop criminals abusing online platforms and telecommunications networks for fraud. This is why we published the Fraud Strategy, setting out how we will address the threat of this crime. One of the three pillars included in the strategy focuses on blocking frauds from happening in the first place, which includes actions to prevent online fraud and telecommunications-enabled fraud.We are currently working with tech companies to create an Online Fraud Charter which will include a number of voluntary actions to help design out fraud. The Online Safety Bill will also tackle online harms, including fraud and fraudulent advertising. This means that social media and search engine companies will have to take robust, proactive action to ensure that their users are not exposed to these crimes in the first place. We expect this to have a strong impact on some of the highest harm fraud types.In October 2021, we launched the Telecommunications Fraud Sector Charter which includes actions to block scam calls and smishing texts. In the strategy, we also announced the launch of a consultation with a view to ban SIM farms. These are devices that allow fraudsters to send hundreds of thousands of scam texts in short time and at low cost. We are consulting on making it illegal to sell, purchase, possess, or use SIM farms. Following the consultation, we will rapidly bring forward legislation to ensure criminals can no longer use them to scam UK citizens.Whilst it is vital we continue to target the criminals behind fraud and work with industry to make it harder for them to operate, one of the best ways to safeguard the public is to also ensure they are well-informed about how to protect themselves. That is why raising awareness and safeguarding victims forms another of the three pillars in the Fraud Strategy.

Counter-terrorism

Lord Hay of Ballyore: To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are implementing to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks in the UK.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: CONTEST is the UK’s comprehensive counter terrorism strategy, and it’s overarching aim is to reduce the risk to the UK and its citizens and interests overseas from terrorism, so that our people can go about their lives freely and with confidence. As announced in October 2022, CONTEST is being updated to protect the public from new and emerging threats and will be published later this year. Since CONTEST was last published in June 2018, we have delivered a number of measures to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks. We have established the Counter-Terrorism Operations Centre, pulling together expertise and resource across police, intelligence agencies and the criminal justice system in order to better identify and tackle emerging threats. The Multi-Agency Centre works in partnership to better understand the national security risk posed by individuals who are or have been subject to national security investigations, bringing together existing expertise within the counter-terrorism community and working in partnership with experts in offender management, social care and safeguarding. The Home Office is in the process of setting up an assurance programme to oversee delivery of accepted recommendations from the Manchester Arena Inquiry. We are committed to implementing the recommendations of The Independent Review of Prevent swiftly, with the majority within one year of publication. This will pave the way for a more transparent, efficient, and sustainable Prevent programme.We have also strengthened our legislation; The Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act received Royal Assent in 2019 to ensure the police, Security Services, prosecutors, and the judiciary have the powers they need to tackle the evolving threat posed to the UK by terrorism. Martyn’s Law, which is currently is undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny, will keep people safe by introducing proportionate new security requirements for certain public venues to ensure preparedness for, and protection from, terrorist attacks. The Online Safety Bill, which will make tech companies will be accountable to an independent regulator to keep their users safe is currently progressing through the House of Lords.

Islamic Human Rights Commission

Lord Godson: To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Islamic Human Rights Commission, through IHRC Legal, continues to be listed by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner as a fit organisation to provide immigration advice.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: The Islamic Human Rights Commission Ltd is currently registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC). The OISC keeps in close contact with the organisation, and audits it regularly.Organisations seeking regulation by the Commissioner are required to abide by the OISC’s Guidance on Fitness (Owners). The criteria for assessing fitness includes the likelihood of compliance with the OISC's Regulatory Scheme, a history of honesty and legal compliance, as well as a history of financial probity.

Trade Agreements: India

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking tocreate a mutually beneficial immigration policy to improve the ongoing trade negotiations between India and the UK.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: The UK is embarking on a modern and ambitious trade programme to strengthen political and economic ties with our global partners, including with India. It is not government policy to comment on live negotiations.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Mental Health Services

Lord Hay of Ballyore: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve mental health support for members of the Armed Forces and their families.

Baroness Goldie: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to improving the mental health and wellbeing of our Armed Forces personnel and their families. We already provide personnel with through-career support in resilience building and education about mental health issues in addition to professional, dedicated medical service provision. As well as providing a 24hr mental health helpline delivered by Combat Stress, Defence also works closely with the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS(England) to provide single points of contact for personnel, their families, and veterans. The Devolved Administrations are responsible for the delivery of health care and medical services in their nations. We continually look to improve and build upon the support we offer.

Department for Business and Trade

Electric Vehicles: Production

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to protect the growth of electric car production in Britain.

The Earl of Minto: The Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) aims to support the creation of an internationally competitive electric vehicle supply chain in the UK. The government continues to work with industry via the ATF to unlock strategic investments in gigafactories, motors and drives, power electronics, and fuel cell systems.In the coming months, after engagement with industry, the government will build on the ATF and the long-term Advanced Propulsion Centre R&D programme to take decisive action to ensure future investment in the manufacturing of zero emission vehicles.

Courier Services: Standards

Lord Hampton: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the finding by Citizens Advice in 2021 that 5.5 million people had a parcel lost or stolen in the 12 months leading up to 31 July 2021, what plans they have to persuade courier companies to include parcel tracking in their base level of service.

The Earl of Minto: It is for retailers to determine the delivery services they make available to their customers and the Government has no plans to ask courier companies to provide tracking as standard. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, it is the seller’s responsibility to ensure items ordered are delivered and Ofcom, as the independent regulator for the postal sector, has imposed an ‘Essential Condition’ requiring relevant parcel delivery companies to take all reasonable steps to minimise exposure of postal packets to risk of loss, theft, damage or interference.

Paternity Pay

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the joint report by the Centre for Progressive Policy, Pregnant Then Screwed and Women in DataLeave in the lurch: Paternity leave, gender equality and the UK economy, published on 15 June, what plans they have to adopt the recommendation contained in that report to increase statutory paid leave entitlement for fathers.

The Earl of Minto: The Government recently announced changes to make Paternity Leave easier for fathers and partners to take. These changes will provide more choice and flexibility over when the leave can be taken, including allowing it to be split into two separate blocks of one week over a 52-week period. The standard rate of Statutory Paternity Pay is reviewed annually. From April 2023, it increased by September's Consumer Price Index figure of 10.1 per cent to £172.48. There are no further changes currently planned for Paternity Leave and Pay.

Parental Leave

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the survey conducted by the group Pregnant Then Screwed in June 2022 which found that shared parental leave was only used by between two and eight per cent of eligible couples, what steps they are taking to encourage more parents to use shared parental leave.

The Earl of Minto: The number of parents taking Shared Parental Pay has increased in line with predications made when the policy was introduced and has doubled between 2015-16 and 2021-22. 2015-2016: 6,2002021-2022: 13,000 In June 2021, the Government introduced the Shared Parental Leave tool on gov.uk which supports parents to plan their leave. The tool has received positive feedback from users on both its ability to support the planning of Shared Parental Leave and facilitate conversations between parents and employers.

Parental Pay

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of increasing fathers'entitlement to paid leave on (1) gender inequalities in pay, (2) career progression, (3) employment, (4) the provision of childcare, and (5) the mental health of both parents.

The Earl of Minto: As set out in our Manifesto, the Government is committed to making it easier for fathers and partners to take Paternity Leave. In 2019 we consulted on high-level options and principles for reforming the parental leave and pay system. The recently published response sets out changes which include enabling fathers to take Paternity Leave in two separate blocks of one week at any time in the first year. Allowing fathers to take time off work towards the end of the mother’s 52 weeks of Maternity Leave could also allow fathers to solo parent whilst supporting mothers to return to work.

Retail Trade: Staff

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whatplans they have, if any, to protect the labour workforce as more retail stores transition to online sales and services.

The Earl of Minto: The Government recognises the opportunities bricks and mortar businesses can create by developing online services and supports the workforce by offering extensive skills and employment support for individuals who might be affected. The Retail Sector Council has identified skills and employment as two of their priority areas of work and government continues to work closely with the Council to consider the future needs of the sector. Figures from the Office of National Statistics[1] show that the proportion of total retail sales made online peaked at 37.8% in January 2021, before falling back. The proportion of sales made online has remained broadly consistent at around 26% since February 2023. [1] ONS, Internet sales as a percentage of total retail sales (ratio) (%), June 2023.

Postal Services: Theft

Lord Hampton: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to thePenn Elcom Global Parcel Theft Report 2022, published in October 2022, what action they expect Ofcom to take in response to parcel theft, and when.

The Earl of Minto: Ofcom is the designated, independent regulator for the postal sector. The Government has no role in its regulatory decisions. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, it is the seller’s responsibility to ensure items ordered are delivered and Ofcom requires postal operators to take all reasonable steps to minimise exposure of postal packets to risk of loss, theft, damage or interference in terms of an essential requirement. In its 2022 review of postal regulation, Ofcom recognised that the safety and security of parcels remains a key consumer concern and will continue to monitor the issue.

Retail Trade: Travel

Baroness Altmann: To ask His Majesty's Government whatplans they have to support businesses operating in the travel retail sector, amid rising inflation and constraints on consumer spending resulting from increases in the cost of living.

The Earl of Minto: Our £13.6bn business rates package announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement will help retailers and small businesses. This comes after the Government reversed the Health and Social Care Levy, enabling smaller firms to reduce their National Insurance bills even further by increasing the Employment Allowance. Furthermore, on 9 January, the Government announced the Energy Bills Discount Scheme. Under the new scheme, eligible non-domestic customers receive a per-unit discount to their energy bills during the 12-month period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, subject to a threshold level of £107/MWh for gas and £302/MWh of electricity.

Companies: Remote Meetings

Lord Lee of Trafford: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for regulating whether publicly listed companies should hold hybrid annual general meetings which enable shareholders to attend either in person or participate digitally.

The Earl of Minto: The Companies Act 2006 permits hybrid annual general meetings to be held. The format of annual general meetings is a matter for companies and their shareholders.

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership: Non-governmental Organisations

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide further opportunities for non-governmental organisations to comment on the UK’s plan to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: As part of one of the largest consultation exercises run by the UK Government, the department consulted with individuals, businesses, business associations, non-governmental organisations and public sector bodies on the UK potentially seeking accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and received almost 150,000 responses.   We continue to engage with a range of stakeholders about CPTPP, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs). We have offered briefings on specific issues to various NGOs and responded in writing where they have expressed an interest in issues related to the agreement, and will continue to do so.

Trade Agreements: USA

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they still intend to make a free trade agreement with the United States as envisaged in the Conservative Party Manifesto of 2019.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: The United States is not negotiating traditional FTAs with any country. On the 8th of June, the Prime Minister and the President announced a first-of-its-kind economic partnership. The Atlantic Declaration and accompanying Action Plan cover the full spectrum of our economic, technological, commercial and trade relations, and will explore ways to expand our bilateral trade, already worth £279 billion per year. As part of the Declaration, we announced the immediate launch of negotiations on a Critical Minerals Agreement which will guarantee market access for a strategically important sector of the UK economy and bolster vital supply chains.

Department for Work and Pensions

Food Poverty

Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Trussell TrustHunger in the UK, published in June; whether they intend to publish a response; and if so, when.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The Department for Work and Pensions has no plans to publish a response to the report by the Trussell Trust on Hunger in the UK. However, we continue to monitor new research and evidence produced by external organisations. Government takes the issue of food security seriously, which is why we added internationally used food security questions to the Family Resources Survey in 2019/20. These questions remain in the survey and will allow us to track food security over time Building on the food insecurity data which this Government first published in 2019/20, we have published official estimates of foodbank use for the first time. These will, alongside the broad suite of poverty data, help the Government to understand more about the characteristics of people most in need and help shape future policy considerations. We will continue to work across Government to support the most vulnerable.

Department for Transport

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of on street rapid electric car chargers.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: There are now over 43,000 public charging devices in the UK, including over 8,000 rapid chargers. The number of rapid chargers has increased by 42 per cent in the past year. Going forward, the Government expects a market-led rollout for the majority of chargepoints, with Government support focused in two areas: high-powered chargers on the strategic road network and local on-street charging. The Rapid Charging Fund will support the upgrade of the electricity network to facilitate the installation of rapid and ultra rapid chargers on the strategic road network, where they are best placed to enable longer journeys. The Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund will support local authorities in England to work with industry to transform the availability of charging for drivers without off-street parking.

Avanti West Coast: Wales

Lord Wigley: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Avanti North West concerning the withdrawal of direct trains between London and the North Wales coast between 15 and 23 July; and what estimate they have made, if any, of the effect that this may have on tourist destinations in Wales.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Department has not made an assessment of the impact of Network Rail engineering works. Avanti West Coast has kept the Department sighted on plans to mitigate the impact of the Network Rail works taking place between Rugby and Stafford (via Nuneaton) between 15 July and 23 July, which affect direct services between London and North Wales.

High Speed 2 Line: Disability

Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government whether the current specification given to HS2 for the building of Old Oak Common Station includes a requirement that disabled passengers must be able to embark and disembark from all (1) HS2, (2) Great Western Railway, and (3) Elizabeth Line trains, without needing to use manual boarding ramps.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The High Speed platforms at Old Oak Common Station have been designed to enable level boarding. Passengers using the conventional rail platforms at the station will join services using several different types of rolling stock and the railway will also be used by important freight services. To ensure the railway can be used by all of these train services and provide maximum availability and resilience for passengers, there needs to be consistent platform heights across the conventional station platforms, which means level boarding will not be available on Great Western Railway and Elizabeth line services. The station is fully compliant with Network Rail standards.

Department of Health and Social Care

Allergies: Medical Equipment

Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: To ask His Majesty's Government how many preventable deaths occurred in each of the three most recent years for which figures are available, as a result of (1) failure to administer an adrenaline auto-injector, and (2) failure of an adrenaline auto-injector.

Lord Markham: Data on the number of preventable deaths which have occurred as a result of failure to administer an adrenaline auto-injector and failure of an adrenaline auto-injector are not collected by Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), as the Human Medicines regulations relate to pharmacovigilance of adverse drug reactions and medication errors resulting in adverse drug reactions. Anyone experiencing side effects with medicines is encouraged to report these to MHRA via Yellow Card.

NHS: Drugs

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask His Majesty's Government which minister is directly responsible for the ‘Homecare Medicines Service’; and what arrangements are in place to (1) coordinate, and (2) evaluate the service.

Lord Markham: The Minister of State for Health, Will Quince MP, is the minister responsible for the Homecare Medicines Service.Providers of Homecare Medicine services to National Health Service patients do so under framework agreements which may be held at different authority levels as follows:- National level, via NHS England;- Regional level, via NHS procurement hubs; or- Local level via hospital trusts.This therefore requires a high degree of centralised co-ordination for which the National Homecare Medicines Committee (NHMC) supports and advises the NHS on matters relating to homecare medicines services.Homecare medicines services are regulated by three different regulators, namely the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the General Pharmaceutical Council, and the Care Quality Commission, depending on the service being provided. The NHMC acts as the national focus for developing and improving administration and governance processes for homecare medicines services and has published a large volume of guidance and templates to support consistent best practice across the country.Each Chief Pharmacist within each NHS trust is the responsible officer for the homecare medicines services that the hospital provides and is responsible for the monitoring and performance management of its contracts for these services.

Long Covid

Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links: To ask His Majesty's Government what financial support (1) the Department of Health and Social Care, and (2) other government departments, have provided towards research into Long Covid.

Lord Markham: The Department for Health and Social Care funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology funds research through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Medical Research Council (MRC). Collectively, over £50 million has already been invested in long-COVID research projects to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate clinical care.

Allergies

Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: To ask His Majesty's Government how many people waited for allergy testing for more than 12 weeks in each of the past 10 years.

Lord Markham: This information is not collected centrally.

Asthma

Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the annual expenditure on asthma reviews in England for each of the five most recent years for which figures are available.

Lord Markham: NHS England does not hold this information.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Vaccination

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the decision by theJoint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations to approve an universal vaccination programme for RSV for infants, when they will provide (1) an agreement for its implementation, and (2) a timescale for its introduction.

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to theRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) immunisation programme: JCVI advice, 7 June 2023, published on 22 June, what steps if any they will taketo allow for the introduction of those recommendations so that (1) infants, (2) older adults, and (3) NHS staff, can be protected from Respiratory Syncytial Virus in the Winter 2023/24 period.

Lord Markham: Policy options based on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s (JCVI) advice on a potentially expanded infant RSV vaccination programme are being worked up. This includes the Department working with UKHSA and NHS England on implementation, with NHS England leading on delivery.

Asthma

Lord Watson of Wyre Forest: To ask His Majesty's Government how many asthma reviews were conducted in England in each of the five most recent years for which figures are available.

Lord Markham: The Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF) ensures all general practitioner practices establish and maintain a register of patients with an asthma diagnosis in accordance with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance. Part of this guidance includes the provision of an annual Asthma review. The QOF annual review indicator was introduced in 2020/21 and contains Asthma review data from the past two years. In 2020/21 there were 1,132,926 and in 2021/22 there were 1,964,234. The 2022/23 data is to be published in September.

Sepsis

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to increase public awareness of sepsis since their 2016 campaignHelping parents spot the signs of sepsis.

Lord Markham: NHS England provides ‘easy read documents’ on its website detailing how to prevent, spot the signs and symptoms of, and manage problems after, incidence of sepsis. Local NHS trusts can also decide to run local public awareness campaigns on sepsis, including for symptoms and management in adults and children. The Government continues to work closely with the UK Sepsis Trust who play a pivotal role in influencing public awareness of sepsis through wide ranging campaigns, online resources, and events.

Dental Services

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what initiatives they are pursuing to increase the number of NHS dentists.

Lord Markham: The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published 30 June, sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. These include a 40% increase to dentistry undergraduate training places by 2031/32. To support this ambition, we will expand places by 24% by 2028/29, taking the overall number that year to 1,000 places.Furthermore, we are currently working on a plan for dentistry, to be published shortly, to improve access to dental care across England. Our plan will build upon the package of reforms agreed in July 2022 and will address making NHS work more attractive to ensure dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.

Cancer and Sepsis: Rehabilitation

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government what funding they are allocating to rehabilitation for (1) sepsis survivors, and (2) cancer survivors; and whether there are any planned changes to that funding.

Lord Markham: The Department does not hold figures on funding allocated to rehabilitation for specific diseases. People who have experienced sepsis and cancer have access to follow-up pathways with options for personalised healthcare to suit their individual needs, including a needs assessment, rehabilitation, and other services, such as physiotherapy, as deemed appropriate by their healthcare provider. NHS England is working closely with NHS@Home to ensure patients have the option to be monitored from the place they call home, including care homes, using virtual wards.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Protocol: Trade

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Centre for Brexit policy paper, Mutual Enforcement: the Key to Restoring Government in Stormont, published on 27 June.

Lord Caine: The Government remains fully committed to the restoration of a fully functioning devolved government, along with all the other institutions that form the three strands of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, in the interest of the whole community in Northern Ireland. We are working tirelessly to that end. In the Government’s view, the Windsor Framework remains the best basis for achieving it.

Battle of the Somme

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they were represented, and if so by whom, at the Somme Commemoration and wreath laying ceremony at Belfast City Hall on 1 July.

Lord Caine: His Majesty's Government was represented at the Somme Commemoration and wreath laying ceremony at Belfast City Hall on 1 July by Northern Ireland Office Acting Permanent Secretary and Director General Dominic Wilson. Northern Ireland Office Minister of State Steve Baker represented His Majesty’s Government at the Somme Commemoration and wreath laying ceremonies in France.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Arms Length Management Organisations

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of Arm’s Length Management Organisations as providers of social housing.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: It is for councils to decide the most effective mechanism for supplying and maintaining council homes, within the legal framework and in consultation with their residents.Of the 162 local authorities that hold council homes in a Housing Revenue Account (HRA), 22 have those homes managed by an Arm's-Length Management Organisation (ALMO). Council homes managed by a ALMO are subject to the same standards on decency, safety and energy efficiency as other social homes, and will be covered by the same proactive regulation of consumer standards envisaged in the Social Housing Regulation Bill. Councils with ALMOs are also subject to the HRA ringfence, which prevents tenants' rents being spent on wider council services.

Buildings: Insulation

Lord Naseby: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to persuadeforeign developersto contribute to fix cladding issuesidentified followingthe Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.

Lord Naseby: To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect cladding manufacturers to make an appropriate contribution to fix cladding issues identified following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: I refer the noble Lord to my answer to question HL 5795 on 8 March 2023. The Government expects developers to do the right thing irrespective of where they are based.To date, 49 developers have signed a developer remediation contract with the Government, committing to remediate or pay to remediate buildings that they developed or refurbished. Several of those signatories are foreign-owned.On 3 July 2023, we made regulations to establish a Responsible Actors Scheme. Members of the Scheme will be required to enter into and comply with the developer remediation contract. Any eligible developer who does not do so will be prohibited from carrying out major development and from securing building control approval. Any overseas-based developer that meets the criteria will be eligible for the Scheme. Similarly, the Government's Building Safety Levy will apply to in-scope developments by all developers, irrespective of where the developer is based. PQ HL5795 (pdf, 85.5KB)

Cabinet Office

Infrastructure: National Security

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to ensure that the UK’s critical national infrastructure is protected from security threats.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Much of the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) is owned or operated by the private sector. Lead Government Departments (LGD) for each CNI sector work closely with the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and regulators to ensure that owners and operators have adequate resilience for the risks they face. Government support takes the form of direct engagement through site visits and briefings and through the provision of information on risks and best practice guidance. In the Resilience Framework, the Government has additionally committed to introducing minimum standards for resilience, where these are not already in place; this includes specific and ambitious cyber resilience targets for CNI sectors to meet by 2025 as announced at CyberUK in Belfast in April this year.

Ministers: Correspondence

Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government whether it is their current practice not to show incoming Ministers the recent letters to their predecessors, in particular when these have not been sent replies; and whether they will review this matter.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence. It is current practice to show incoming Ministers letters when a response has not yet been issued. Individual departments are responsible for maintaining their own performance records when new Ministers are appointed to the department.

Treasury

Schools: Defibrillators

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what are the Barnett consequentials, if any, for Northern Ireland of the decision to roll-out provision for defibrillators for every school in England.

Baroness Penn: The Barnett formula is applied when departmental budgets change – not when departments announce how they are spending their budgets. The funding for rolling out defibrillators in 2022-23 was from the Department for Educations existing Capital Budget. As such, there are no additional Barnett consequentials from this decision.

Business: Money

Lord Lipsey: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the prevalence of businesses refusing cash payments; and what steps they will take to ensure that cash continues to be accepted by businesses.

Baroness Penn: The government does not collect data on the types of payments that are accepted by businesses. Nonetheless, the government recognises that many people continue to transact in cash across the UK and has legislated through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to establish a new legislative framework to protect access to cash. The government considers that this legislation will support organisations, including local businesses, to continue accepting cash by ensuring that they have reasonable access to cash deposit facilities.

Small Businesses: Insurance

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whatsteps they are taking to ensure that small businesses receive pay-outs on their COVID-19 business interruption insurance claims.

Baroness Penn: The Government continues to work closely with the independent Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to monitor any widespread non-compliance with regulator rules. Under FCA rules, insurers are required to handle claims fairly and promptly and settle claims quickly once settlement terms are agreed. The Government supports the FCA taking further action where firms do not meet these expectations. Policyholders who feel that their claim has not been handled fairly may be able to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, an independent body set up to provide arbitration in such cases.

NHS: Finance

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what are the Barnett consequentials for each of the devolved parts of the UK of the Prime Minister's announcement of additional NHS funding for workforce planning.

Baroness Penn: Funding arrangements for the devolved administrations will continue to apply in the usual way as set out in the published Statement of Funding Policy.The Barnett formula will apply to any changes to UK Government departmental DEL budgets.

Tourism: VAT

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential economic impact of the return of tax-free shopping for tourists.

Baroness Penn: The Government engaged with varied stakeholders and produced analysis on the cost of the VAT Retail Export Scheme (RES) before withdrawing it. Our analysis, which took increased tourist spending into account, found that introducing worldwide VAT-free shopping would come at a fiscal cost of £2 billion each year. Furthermore, the Office for Budget Responsibility’s assessment of the previous VAT RES shopping scheme showed that its withdrawal would have a limited behavioural effect on decisions to visit, or spend, in the UK. Although there are no plans to re-introduce VAT RES, the Government keeps all taxes under review and welcomes representations to help inform future decisions on tax policy, as part of the tax policy making cycle and Budget process.

Department for Education

Teachers: Labour Turnover

Baroness Garden of Frognal: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessmentthey have made of the potential impact on teacher retention of reducing teacher timetables in schools serving disadvantaged communities.

Baroness Barran: School and trust leaders decide how best to allocate their teacher timetables.Teacher retention is key to ensuring effective teacher supply and quality, and the department is taking action to support teachers to stay in the profession. The department has published a range of resources to help address teacher workload and wellbeing, and support schools to introduce flexible working practices.The department is offering a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 tax-free for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. This will support the retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.

Joshua Sutcliffe

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decision by the Teacher Regulation Agency, dated 23 May, recommending that a prohibition order should be imposed on Mr Joshua Sutcliffe.

Baroness Barran: It is important that processes relating to teacher misconduct are progressed without any political involvement. Decisions on whether to progress cases are taken independently by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA).An independent Professional Conduct Panel is appointed to hear cases and determine whether the evidence proves unacceptable professional conduct, conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, or a conviction of a relevant offence. If so, the Professional Conduct Panel will make a recommendation on whether to prohibit the individual from teaching.Following the recommendation, the decision to impose a prohibition order is taken by a senior TRA official. Although that decision is taken on behalf of the Secretary of State, neither she or any other Ministers in the department can have any involvement in these independent investigations, related processes, and decisions.

Children: Social Services

Lord Hay of Ballyore: To ask His Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to improve the quality and accessibility of social care services for children.

Baroness Barran: On 2 February 2023 the department published ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, an implementation strategy and consultation, setting out plans to reform children’s social care. This strategy sets out how we will help families overcome challenges, keep children safe, and make sure children in care have stable loving homes, long-term loving relationships, and opportunities for a good life.As of 1 April 2023, there are 153 local authorities responsible for ensuring and overseeing the effective delivery of social care services for children. Since the introduction of our Improvement and Intervention programme in 2017, which aimed to reduce the number of local authorities rated Inadequate by Ofsted, the number of Inadequate local authorities has dropped from 20% to 8.5%, and the number of Good and Outstanding local authorities has risen from 36% to 59%. This programme specifically offers support to areas with early signs of failure and intervenes when failure has already taken place.Over the next two years, through ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, the department will address urgent issues in children’s social care, and lay the foundations for wider-reaching reform across the whole system.

Children: Disadvantaged

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that children from disadvantaged backgrounds have equal access to digital learning resources and technology.

Baroness Barran: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.Schools are responsible for making decisions about what technology to buy to meet their pupils’ needs, and how best to use it support their teaching.The government delivered over 1.95 million laptops and tablets to schools, trusts, local authorities and further education (FE) providers for disadvantaged children and young people as part of a £520 million government investment to support access to remote education and online social care services. These laptops and tablets are now owned by schools, trusts, local authorities or FE providers, who can lend them to children and young people who need them the most. These laptops and tablets were an injection of support on top of the estimated 2.9 million that were already owned by schools before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.Building on its success in the pandemic, Oak National Academy was established as an arm’s length body on 1 September 2022, working independently of the government and collaboratively with the education sector. Oak aims to support teachers to improve curriculum delivery, reduce workload and support improved pupil outcomes, and continues to provide a remote education contingency. Oak will work with teachers across the country, giving them and their pupils access to free, optional, and adaptable high-quality digital curriculum resources.The government has provided over £2.6 billion of pupil premium funding in the 2022/23 financial year to support pupils from lower income families. Rates will increase by 5% for 2023/24, taking total pupil premium funding to £2.9 billion. As set out in the menu of approaches, schools can use both pupil premium and recovery premium on technology and other resources that support high quality teaching.Social tariffs offer low-cost landline and broadband services for those on certain means tested benefits. The government is encouraging those providers who do not currently offer social tariff packages, to do so. A range of affordable tariffs, designed specifically to support low-income families, are now available to 99% of UK households. BT, Virgin Media O2, Sky, Vodafone, and other providers offer broadband and mobile social tariffs for as little as £10 per month, representing a significant saving for households in receipt of Universal Credit and other means tested benefits.In addition, the government secured a range of commitments from the UK’s major broadband and mobile providers to support families through the global rise in the cost of living. These commitments include more manageable payment plans, switching to a cheaper package free of charge, or taking a more affordable social tariff if the customer is eligible. The government encourages people to contact their provider to see what support is available. Awareness and take up of social tariffs need to improve. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is working with the sector to urge those providers who have yet to offer a social tariff to do so, and for the industry to ensure that offers are publicised.

Teachers: Labour Turnover and Recruitment

Baroness Garden of Frognal: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of financial incentives on the recruitment and retention of teachers in schools serving disadvantaged communities.

Baroness Barran: The department offers bursaries worth up to £27,000 tax-free and scholarships worth up to £29,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainee teachers in key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.The National Foundation for Educational Research has published independent research which corroborates the department’s analysis that a £1,000 increase in bursary value results in an approximately 3% increase in applicants on average, all other things being equal.There is evidence that schools serving disadvantaged communities face greater teacher workforce challenges. This is why the department is also offering a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 tax-free for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. This will support the retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.The Levelling Up Premium is informed by the previous maths and physics teacher retention payments pilot. A University College London evaluation of this found that teachers who received these £2,000 tax-free payments were 23% less likely to leave teaching, showing retention payments can help solve teacher shortages.

Schools: Defibrillators

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government from which department's budget the roll-out of defibrillators for schools across England will be funded.

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government whether the funding for additional defibrillators for schools will come from existing budgets or as additional funding.

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of additional defibrillators they will provide for (1) schools, and (2) other public places.

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what is the timescale of the proposed roll-out of additional defibrillators for primary and special needs schools in England.

Baroness Barran: The government announced on 17 July 2022 that it would be providing defibrillators to all state funded schools in England that did not already have them. The government committed to providing eligible schools with these devices by the end of the 2022/23 academic year.The department created a new budget in 2022/23 and 2023/24 to fund the provision of defibrillators. This budget was created from a reprioritisation of departmental underspend. Deliveries to all eligible secondary schools is now complete with approximately 11,000 defibrillators delivered to over 8,500 eligible schools.The department is on track to complete deliveries of defibrillators to the remaining primary and special educational needs and disabilities schools by the end of the academic year.In addition, the government has agreed to provide funding of £1 million to design a grant scheme for the expansion of automatic electronic defibrillator provision, that increases the number and accessibility of publicly supported access to defibrillators.It is estimated that 1,000 new defibrillators will be provided by the fund, with the potential for this number to increase, as successful grant applicants will be asked to match the funding they receive, either partially or fully.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Lotteries and Scratch Cards: Credit Cards

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written AnswerbyLord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 15 June (HL8254), what assessment they have made of any loopholes to this restriction, in particular the 'Pay by Phone' loophole.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: In April 2020, new licence conditions came into effect which banned both online and land-based gambling operators from accepting payments from credit cards (including via e-wallets) for gambling services.The Gambling Commission has published an interim evaluation of the ban on credit card gambling which showed that the measure had been successful and that there had not been widespread displacement to other forms of credit as payment, but the Commission has committed to continue to monitor the situation.‘Pay by Phone’ transactions are not directly covered by the ban but are limited by law to £40 per transaction and no more than £240 per month. These limits cover all services charged to telephone bills, such as music downloads. This is not a common means of spending on gambling, currently accounting for around 0.4% of annual gross gambling yield (including lotteries), and the Phone-paid Services Authority market review suggests that gambling expenditure via telphone has decreased since the credit card ban was introduced.

Tourism

Lord Wigley: To ask His Majesty's Government what is their most recent estimate of the annual number of overseas visitors to (1) the UK and (2) Wales.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: In 2022, overseas residents made an estimated 31.2 million visits to the UK according to the Office for National Statistics. The ONS estimated a total of 686,000 visits to Wales for the same year.

Lotteries: Retail Trade

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 15 June 2023 (HL8253) what training is provided to retailers about the risk of National Lottery and society lottery products.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: The 2018 Health Survey for England showed that lotteries were associated with the lowest rates of problem gambling of all gambling products considered, and the National Lottery Operator is mandated under its licence to have player protection strategies.The Operator’s training programme, ‘Being a Responsible Retailer’, supports National Lottery retailers on risks related to National Lottery products and focuses on supporting healthy playing and preventing underage playing of the National Lottery. This consists of online and face-to-face training, healthy playing knowledge checks, and further support where needed. The operator also provides retailers with advice through leaflets and telephone calls to improve awareness and to help the retention of responsible retailing principles. Retailers are also trained in engaging with customers about healthy playing — including direction to GamCare as appropriate — and about signs they should look out for to help identify players who may be at risk.To ensure that retailers are benefiting from and acting on its training, the operator runs a healthy playing ‘mystery shopper’ programme, alongside the ‘Operation 18’ programme to ensure that retailers are correctly asking for proof of age. As a result of these initiatives, 94% of National Lottery retailers visited in 2022/23 successfully passed a healthy playing knowledge check. If a retailer does not pass these visits or checks, it is offered additional training.Each society lottery operator will have their own specific approach to training retailers about the risk of its products, and must comply with the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice and Social Responsibility Code for society lotteries.

Historic England: Public Appointments

Baroness Rawlings: To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to announce who will be appointed as the new Chair of Historic England.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: The process to appoint a new Chairman of Historic England is ongoing. An appointment will be made and announced in due course, in line with the Governance Code for Public Appointments.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Dangerous Dogs

Lord Truscott: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of dog attacks (1) in general, and (2) on postal workers in particular.

Lord Benyon: We are working in partnership with the police, local authorities and animal welfare organisations to ensure that the full range of existing dog control powers are effectively applied to encourage responsible dog ownership and reduce the risk of dog attacks, including attacks amongst postal workers.

Livestock Worrying

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Benyon on 13 June (HL8317),how many (1) arrests, and (2) prosecutions, were made in connection to livestock worrying in the last four years.

Lord Benyon: Defra does not hold this information. Data on arrests and prosecutions may be held by individual police forces or by the courts.